What time is it? Post time! For those of you who don't know, the shape of Pocky was recently trademarked. This means that legally, Pocky, or illustrations resembling Pocky, can't be used without permission. Although this makes it so no one can copy Pocky in real life, I don't think it was the best decision. Pretty much any anime fan can tell you that Pocky is seen often in anime and manga. I personally discovered it, and later ate it, because of anime. For years, Pocky has been promoted and advertised in a way through anime and manga. By trademarking the shape of it, they're making it so no one can use it without permission, and therefore they've likely stopped any further use of it in anime and manga. I'm going to be honest, hardly anyone is going to want to jump through legal hoops so they can draw their characters eating a chocolate stick. For example, if someone wants to show their character drinking a specific soda brand, they just draw it in a can or regular bottle and then add the colors associated with that brand. It shows the viewers what they're drinking without having to go through the legal process. So, of course creators will just pick a different snack. There's tons of things that can be used instead of Pocky, and they likely will be used instead now. I'm sure this won't help international Pocky sales. It's very popular in Japan, but in America, it's mostly only popular because of anime. Outside of the anime community, not many people know about it. To most people, it's just a chocolate covered biscuit, and there are a lot of different types of chocolate biscuits out there, even from Japan. Although this trademark legally makes sense, I think in the long run it'll be bad for their sales. But, those are mostly just my thoughts on this topic. Nonetheless, I hope you all still enjoyed this blog post!